


Hearts and Minds

by JCapasso



Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:29:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21812968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JCapasso/pseuds/JCapasso
Summary: Chuck is getting behind on his work having to keep going behind the Winchesters and redoing everything they undo, so he drafts some help.
Relationships: Gabriel/Sam Winchester
Comments: 19
Kudos: 63





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I should be back to posting like normal now. I won't have anything up tomorrow or not much at least since I work a ten hour shift, but otherwise, I'm back.

Chuck huffed in annoyance. These stupid hunters just kept undoing everything he did. Sure he could stop them, but killing them would end the game and keeping track of them every minute would keep him too busy to do anything else. What he needed was help. He let out a smirk at that thought. There was one being that could help. It would involve a little rewriting though, but it would be the easiest solution. 

Gabriel lounged on his couch in his hiding place. He had considered going back to the Winchesters once he clawed his way back from apocalypse world, but he could feel his father moving around and the last thing he wanted was that particular confrontation. Besides, they had abandoned him. Left him behind. They moved heaven and earth when people they liked were stuck there, but him they just walked away and never looked back. No, he owed them nothing. He ignored the tiny voice in his mind that said that they thought he was dead and swatted it away like a mosquito. They knew how many times he had faked his death. They knew how real he could make it look. If he mattered to them at all, they would have done everything they could to get back and check. Just to make sure if nothing else. He was done with them. He was done with this world, with all of it. As soon as his grace recovered from the hell he’d been through, he would be moving on. As though that thought was enough to jinx him, he suddenly found the couch had disappeared and he looked up to see that he was sitting at his father’s feet. Fuck. 

Chuck grinned at his wayward son. Not a nice grin either. One that sent chills down the spines of every creature who saw it. “Hello Gabriel. Let’s have a little talk, shall we?” 

“Fuck,” Gabriel breathed out as his eyes went wide, darting in every direction as though looking for an escape that his rational mind knew would never be found. 

Chuck’s grin widened. “Now, now Gabriel. You have nothing to be afraid of. I’m just going to put you to sleep for a little while and then when you wake up everything will be better and we can get to work.” 

Gabriel didn’t even get a chance to fight before he was unconscious. Chuck knelt over him and placed a hand on his forehead as he started to rearrange priorities, modify behaviors, and make the last archangel a good puppet and obedient son once again. He even took a moment to fix and replenish Gabriel’s grace. Unfortunately, in his belief in his own superiority, he was sloppy and missed the one thing that could undo all his work. It would be some time before he would learn of that fact though. 

When Gabriel woke an hour later, he got up and looked around. Noticing his father leaning against the wall, he dropped to a knee and bowed his head. “Father. How can I serve you?” 

Chuck smirked. “Rise, Gabriel. We have work to do. There are two hunters that are a thorn in my side.”

“Would you like me to kill them for you?” Gabriel asked with an excited gleam in his eye. 

“No, no. Not yet anyway. They still have their purpose. I just need you to keep them busy. Keep them from interfering in my work.”

“Of course, Father. Whatever you wish. Who are they and where will I find them?” 

“They are the Winchesters, and I think you know where to find them.”

Gabriel tilted his head and searched his memories. The memories of them seemed somewhat far away and out of focus. “I do. Do you have anymore instructions before I begin?” 

“I do not. Just do whatever you need to do to keep them out of my hair, but still functioning and playing the game.”

Gabriel appeared in the entry room of the bunker, next to the map table and waited, knowing the blaring alarms would bring them running sooner or later and sure enough, it didn’t take long before both hunters were skidding into the room. Gabriel leaned against the wall with a smirk. “Heya Fellas.”

“G-Gabriel…” Sam breathed out as his gun automatically lowered. Damn it all to hell. How did the archangel always know when he was just starting to get over him. Just starting to think about moving on and then up he pops like he has no idea how much he’s ripping Sam’s heart out every time. “W-We thought you were dead.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Oh yes, because of the dozens of times I’ve faked my death, this would be the real one? Please.” 

“Then why are you here?” Dean asked suspiciously. 

“To help of course,” Gabriel said cheerfully, pushing himself off the wall. “Why else would I be here?” 

“Why now? You’ve never been interested in helping before,” Dean pointed out. 

“Because this one you have no chance of handling without me,” Gabriel said with a hint of arrogance. 

Sam could tell something was off about Gabriel. Something about the way he carried himself or maybe the way he spoke, but he couldn’t put his finger on it so he put it out of his head. Whatever else was going on, he trusted Gabriel. He didn’t trust him not to screw with them, but when it came to the important things, he trusted him with his life. “Thank you, Gabriel,” he said relieved. 

Gabriel gave him a cocky half-smile before he was distracted by someone else coming into the room, straightening clothes that were much too big on her and obviously belonged to Sam. He didn’t know what that twisting was in his gut so he ignored it and instead focused on the fact that he could see that she was recently resurrected, but not by his father, so he obviously did not intend for her to be alive. He raised his eyebrows at her and snapped his fingers disintegrating her. 

Sam went from relieved to distraught in a second. “What the hell, Gabriel?!”

Gabriel thought up a story quickly. “Sorry. I probably should have explained first, but who knows what it would have done once it realized the game was up.”

“What are you talking about?” Dean snapped, gun once again levelled at the archangel despite the fact that it wouldn’t do any good.

“That wasn’t who you thought it was. Well unless you intended to resurrect a demon masquerading as a human, of course. If that’s the case I’m sorry I messed up whatever plan you had going.” 

“What do you mean a demon?” Sam asked worriedly, lowering his gun again. 

“Best guess, the demon took the form of someone you knew to con you into an extra life,” Gabriel shrugged. 

Sam put his gun away. “Oh. Well. Thanks, then.” 

“Should’ve known Eileen wouldn’t have ended up in hell,” Dean grumbled as he put his gun away too. 

“So…what are we up to?” Gabriel asked plopping down in the nearest chair and putting his feet on the table. 

Sam and Dean sat a little more sedately and Sam said, “Looking for God…Chuck…whatever he’s going by these days.” 

“Okay, and what are you planning to do with him when you find him?” Gabriel asked, trying to get as much info as he could to relay to his father.

“We have no idea. What the hell can we do against God,” Dean asked bitterly as Sam just shrugged. 

“Okay, well I can help with finding him. It won’t be easy, but I can do it. I would suggest you two put your heads together and use this big library you have to figure out what to do when we find him,” Gabriel suggested. 

“But you’ll help when we do find him?” Sam asked hopefully. He hoped that this was a turning point for them and that maybe, just maybe, he could actually have a chance. 

“Sure, if you need me to,” Gabriel said, not noticing the narrowing of Dean’s eyes at that statement since his attention was fully on Sam. 

“Okay, great. Thanks Gabriel,” Sam said happily. He was starting to have something he hadn’t had in a long time now. Hope.


	2. Chapter 2

When no one else seemed inclined to say much, Gabriel shrugged. “Well I guess I’ll go start beating the bushes then,” he said and disappeared, but didn’t actually leave. 

Dean turned to Sam the second Gabriel was gone. “There’s something going on with him.” 

“What do you mean?” Sam asked. 

“When is he ever that eager to help? He never agrees to a potential suicide mission with an argument. He should have shut us down the second we asked him about taking on God,” Dean pointed out. 

Sam rolled his eyes. “Come on Dean. He’s gone against his brothers twice in a fight he shouldn’t have been able to win for us. What more does he need to do to earn our trust?” 

“I’m not saying I don’t trust him,” Dean said defensively. 

“That’s what it sounds like to me,” Sam said pointedly. 

“It’s just…okay, so how do we know it’s really Gabriel and not, say, Chuck screwing with us,” Dean started grasping at straws.

Sam laughed. “You’re getting paranoid now Dean. If we go there then we might as well throw in the towel because how do I know you’re you or you know I’m me. I agree he’s a little different, but he did defy death again, and now he has a chance to face up to all his daddy issues. In all the important ways, he’s still Gabriel.”

“I’m not so sure…” Dean muttered as he walked off, realizing that he wasn’t going to convince Sam without something a little more concrete. 

Gabriel smirked invisibly. So Deano didn’t trust him huh? Perhaps putting a wedge between the brothers would be the most effective way to complete his mission. Then again, if one of them was suspicious he could get caught out. He had backup plans up the wazoo if that happened though, and this game would bore him soon enough anyway. He would consult with his father and see what he thought would be the most effective way to play it. 

Gabriel went to where he sensed his father and knelt before him. “I have made contact with the Winchesters.” 

“Excellent. What have you learned?” 

“They have no idea how to find you or what to do if they do. I offered to find you for them. I can keep them looking in all the wrong places, and I suggested they work on a plan for if they do to keep them distracted from anything else.”

“Perfect,” Chuck said with a smirk. It was nice when a story really came together. “Anything else?”

“Dean is suspicious of me, but Sam trusts me completely,” he started to explain, unsure what the pang in his chest meant at the idea of Sam trusting him as he was betraying them, so putting it out of his mind. “I was thinking that encouraging a wedge between them over the issue may be prudent. It would be more of a distraction, though it might get me caught if he starts poking around too much.”

Chuck considered the matter. “And what will happen if you get caught?” 

“I will simply resume my old trickster persona and keep them distracted with me that way,” Gabriel told him. 

“Very well. Encourage the rift, but do try not to get caught,” Chuck told him dismissively. 

Gabriel nodded and returned to his home for the night. He would let them think he spent all night looking and attempt to get an invitation to move into the bunker tomorrow. 

The next morning, he popped back to the bunker and waited until he heard someone moving around before he snapped up a big breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and bacon, as well as a big pot of coffee, and he waited for whichever of them it was to follow their nose to the kitchen. 

When Sam stumbled in half asleep, Gabriel grinned. “Morning Samsquatch. Breakfast?” 

Sam tilted his head and looked at the spread. “What did you do to it?” 

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. He thought that Sam trusted him more than that. But oh well. He could use this to reinforce that trust. “Geez, how many times does a guy have to die for you before you trust him?” 

Sam chuckled. “Trusting you not to mess with me and trusting you with…the important things are two very different things, Gabe.” 

Gabriel gave a half shrug. He supposed he had a point there. “Well, regardless, there’s nothing wrong with it, but you have no way of knowing I’m not lying to you until you try it.” He managed to put a slight hint of hurt in his voice, hoping Sam would pick up on it, and judging by the look on his face he had. 

“I believe you,” Sam said earnestly before digging into the food without hesitation. 

Gabriel grinned at Sam. “Thanks, Sammykins,” he said as Dean entered the room, also following his nose. 

“M’r’n’g” he murmured as he dug into the last unclaimed plate, not even awake enough to notice Gabriel there. It wasn’t until he was halfway done that he wondered where the good food came from and he looked up, saw Gabriel smirking at him and hastily spit out what he had in his mouth. 

“Oh come on, Dean,” Sam said in disgust as wiped the half chewed food off of his shirt, which just sent Gabriel into gales of laughter. 

“What’d you do to the food?” Dean asked suspiciously as he started feeling over his body looking for any additions or changes.

Sam let out a tense chuckle, not wanting to think about how hurt Gabriel had been when he’d suggested that and told him. “The food’s fine. Just eat.” 

Dean narrowed his eyes at both Sam and Gabriel before going back to his breakfast, a little more hesitantly this time. “So any luck on finding the big guy?” Dean asked. 

Gabriel shook his head. “Not yet. All I can be sure of is that he’s not nearby. As in within a five state radius give or take. For all I know he’s not even on the planet, but I’m working on a way to track him.” 

“That’s great. You need anything from us for that?” Sam asked. 

“Not sure yet. I might. I’ll let you know,” Gabriel told him. “How’s your job going?” 

“Not so good. I mean, I don’t even know where to start,” Sam told him. 

Gabriel shrugged. “Neither am I. I’ll keep my ear to the ground while I’m searching though. Never know what might spark an idea.” 

“Well there is the fact that he’s injured. That might work in our favor,” Dean pointed out. 

“Injured?” Gabriel asked curiously. He hadn’t noticed anything, but probing his father too deeply would be rude, so he hadn’t actually looked. “How could he be injured?” 

“He gave us this gun that would supposedly kill anything so that we could kill Jack, but we wouldn’t so I shot him instead,” Sam told him. 

“Unfortunately, the catch was that whatever happened to one, happened to the other so Sam has a matching wound that we can’t get rid of,” Dean said. “Unless you want to try healing it?” 

Gabriel had no intention of doing so. If his father wanted it healed then he could heal it himself. Unless of course, he couldn’t since he had the same injury and if healing Sam would heal his father, then perhaps. He would have to pretend that he couldn’t heal it for now until he got instructions and then if needed he could ‘find a way’. “Let me see?” 

Sam started undoing his shirt and pulled it back from his shoulder and Gabriel put his hand over it, probing to see exactly what it was so that he could make a good showing of his inability to heal it. In the end it wouldn’t have mattered. He wouldn’t have been able to heal it anyway. “I can’t. It’s not like anything I’ve ever seen, and is beyond my ability,” he said apologetically. “I’ll try to find a way though.” 

“Why are you being so helpful?” Dean couldn’t help but ask. “And don’t give us that crap about us needing you. That never mattered to you before.” 

“Dean!” Sam snapped. 

“Not sure what to tell you bucko. I guess I’ve just spent so long pulling your asses out of the fire that it wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t,” he said with a shrug, knowing that Dean wouldn’t buy that, but judging by Sam’s reaction, he would. 

“And we’re supposed to believe that?” Dean scoffed. 

“Drop it Dean,” Sam hissed in irritation. If he ran Gabriel off when he was actually trying to help, so help him, Sam would gut him. 

“Fine. Whatever,” Dean snapped as he shoved his now empty plate away and stormed off. 

“I’m sorry about him,” Sam told Gabriel, but Gabriel just waved him off, ignoring his own feelings on the subject.


	3. Chapter 3

Over the next few weeks, Gabriel claimed to be making progress and Sam and Dean were more and more at each other’s throats every time Gabriel was around, which was, of course, often. Sam had done as expected and invited him to stay in the bunker with them and given him a room. It was to the point that the brothers couldn’t stand to be in the same room, which was making their fruitless research go rather slowly. Dean would take random hunts every now and then just to get out of the bunker, leaving Sam and Gabriel alone, and giving them that much more time to get close and for Gabriel to wind Sam up even more against his brother. 

Sam was glad Gabriel was there or he would be going insane. Gabriel gave him hope that maybe, just maybe they could make through this. Sam had even been considering confessing his feelings to the archangel, but so far hadn’t managed to get up the nerve to do so. Dean had just gotten back from a hunt that he refused to talk about, but judging by the hits the alcohol stash was taking it was a doozy. Sam was trying to get him out of the bottle without starting one of their near constant arguments, when Cas came back. The shit didn’t hit the fan until Gabriel returned though. 

Cas looked at his big brother and tilted his head in curiosity and suspicion. “How did your grace get repaired, brother?” 

Gabriel felt like a deer caught in headlights. He thought Castiel had been gone for good, but apparently he came crawling back. He didn’t let any of his inner turmoil show though as he just shrugged. “Time heals all wounds,” he said flippantly, hoping it would fly. 

Cas narrowed his eyes. “Grace can not be healed by time. Only father can restore grace,” he said pointedly. 

Gabriel saw the clear conviction on Castiel’s face, the smug satisfaction on Dean’s, but the real punch in the gut was the horror and betrayal on Sam’s face, and that hurt so much that he gave up the game. It was probably over anyway, but faced with that look from Sam, he had nothing to even fight with. “Okay, fine. Father fixed my grace and gave me a job. I’m supposed to keep you in line.” 

“Get out,” Sam said shakily but with conviction. 

“I will do my job. It’s your choice if it’s the easy way or the hard way,” Gabriel said with a smirk ignoring the pain that was gnawing him alive inside. 

“I said…” Sam threw a lamp at him. “Get out. And you better never let me see you again or I will kill you,” he said coldly. 

Gabriel watched the life drain from Sam’s eyes as a mask of solid ice went over his features, and he couldn’t quite hold his smirk as he left. 

Seeing the state his brother was in, Dean’s smugness turned immediately to concern. “I’m sorry, Sammy. I didn’t want to be right.” 

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” Sam said emotionlessly. 

“Whatever else he is, Gabriel is an archangel. He is a weapon. A killer. Do not forget it. You can use a spear as a walking stick, but it does not change it’s nature,” Cas told them. So he was more than a little bitter right now. It didn’t mean he wasn’t right. 

Sam nodded and walked out of the room without another word as Dean looked worriedly after him. Once he was gone, Dean turned to Cas. “Don’t you think that was a little harsh? I mean, yeah, the guy betrayed us and all, but he’s helped us before too, and he did run away from heaven so long ago.” 

Cas scoffed. He had zero faith in anyone with any sort of power right now. “He ran away from heaven after father had already left. He probably didn’t like taking orders from his brothers. He just proved where his real loyalty lies. Remember when I first told you about archangels?” 

“Archangels are absolute. Heaven’s most terrifying weapon,” Dean parroted. “Kinda hard to forget.” 

“Well also don’t forget that Gabriel is one of them,” Cas said and walked towards his room. 

Dean shook his head, seeing Cas’ point, and decided to go find Sam. He did not like that look on his brother’s face. 

He found Sam in the storeroom, making a mess of the shelves while searching for something, and that alone told Dean how far gone Sam was. The fact that he was making such a mess and didn’t know where to find what he was looking for was very out of character for him. “Whatcha looking for?” Dean asked, trying to keep it light. 

“The archangel blade,” Sam said dispassionately. 

Dean nodded. That explained it. It was one of the few things that he had put up. Sam hadn’t been able to look at it knowing that it had killed Gabriel. Dean walked over and nudged Sam out of the way, climbed to the top shelf and moved a few boxes before pulling out the case. “How are you going to wield it? I thought it could only be used by an archangel.” Dean pointed out. 

“What proof do we have of that? Just legends and hearsay. We know we can handle it so why can’t we use it? Even if that’s true, this little piece of god I have in me might just be enough. Either way, if that bastard shows up again, I’ll be prepared,” Sam said icily. 

Dean knew that Sam was in a bad place right now, but didn’t know what to say or do to make it better, so just had to settle on, “Just as long as you don’t go looking for vengeance alone.” When Sam just took the case from Dean’s hands and walked back to his room, the hunter sighed. It looked like he was going to need to keep a close watch on his brother for a while. 

Gabriel appeared before his father, kneeling once again. When he was bidden to speak, he said, “Castiel has returned to the Winchesters. He noticed my healed grace and questioned me on it. I was unable to keep up the charade.” 

Chuck sighed in frustration. “Very well. I suppose you will go with your next plan then?” When Gabriel nodded, Chuck asked, “Have you made any progress on a way to heal the wound?” 

“I apologize Father. I have not,” he said with a wince, knowing what was coming and sure enough, Chuck just waved a hand and banished him. Gabriel managed to right himself somewhere over Hong Kong and flew back to his own home to plan for the next phase. He would show those hunters how futile it was to stand against his father. When he was done with them they would be begging for death.


	4. Chapter 4

By the next morning, Gabriel had decided to start small. He popped into he bunker invisibly and nearly got caught immediately but he managed to switch off the alarms before they went off. He hadn’t expected them to be quite so quick to kick his ward access. Oh well. It wasn’t like he couldn’t get around it. He was an archangel for crying out loud. He just had to use his reflexes. Once he was sure that all three of his targets were inside, he sealed the bunker. No one could get in or out. Well, no one except for him that is. Hopefully they were well stocked for a while, he thought with a smirk. 

Sam slept with the archangel blade under his pillow that night. And intended to from now until Gabriel was dead. When he woke up the next morning he decided that he needed to go for a run and clear his head, with the archangel blade in his pants of course. When he went to go out the front door, however, he suddenly found himself standing in the library. He fumed, sure that he knew what was going on here, but wanted to try again to be sure, so he headed out the front door, and then found himself in ingredient storage two levels down. He gritted his teeth so hard his jaw hurt as he went back upstairs, into the garage, and grabbed a random car to try and drive out. The driveway never ended though and he drove for more than an hour. When he turned the car around it took less than a minute to be back in the garage. At that point, Sam had one more option. He tried the secret escape hatch only to find himself standing back in the kitchen. Sam was beyond pissed now and when Dean stumbled sleepily into the kitchen, he suddenly found an archangel blade sticking out of the door frame two inches from his head. He was wide awake now. 

“What the hell, Sam?” He pulled it out of the wall and handed it back to Sam. 

“Sorry. Just on edge. We’re trapped in here,” Sam said angrily. 

“What do you mean trapped?” 

“I mean, there’s no way out. Gabriel has sealed us in,” Sam snapped. What the hell did he think trapped meant?

“Did you try the escape hatch?” Dean asked. 

“Do I look stupid to you? Of course I tried it.”

“Okay, okay. Geez. You don’t have to snap at me,” Dean tried to placate his brother. 

Sam took a deep steadying breath. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I’m just…”

“Pissed. I get it. Look let’s just relax, have some breakfast, wake up a little more and then we’ll figure this out, okay?” 

Sam nodded and grabbed some bread to make some toast. He wasn’t in the mood for much this morning. It turned out that he wasn’t going to get an option though because Dean made enough eggs and bacon for an army. Sam steadfastly refused the bacon, but did let Dean talk him into having some eggs. 

By the time they finished eating, Cas was up and around also and they filled him in on the problem and asked if he had any ideas. “Unfortunately I do not. Given his orders, I doubt that this is a puzzle he expects us to figure out, and even if I did have all of my grace, I would not be able to overpower anything put into place by an archangel.” 

“Maybe you could just try?” Dean suggested. “Maybe…” He cut off that train of thought at the look on his brother’s face. No way was he going to suggest that Gabriel might be playing triple agent right now. “Just try, Cas?” 

Cas nodded and spent most of the morning making the attempt, but got nowhere, prompting Sam to scream at the ceiling, “Damnit Gabriel! Let us out!”

Dean sighed. “That’s not gonna help Sammy. We need a new plan.” They spent the rest of the day trying to find one before they just decided to sleep on it. They would get out tomorrow, one way or another. 

Sam had arrived in his room to find the archangel that had them twisted up in knots sitting at Sam’s desk, reading a book like nothing was happening and he had every right to be there. Sam wasted no time in pulling the archangel blade and flinging it at his back, only for it to be imbedded in the wall as Gabriel was suddenly on the other side of the room. 

“You know why they say only an archangel can wield that blade against another archangel?” Gabriel asked conversationally, as Sam pulled the blade out of the wall. 

Sam turned to repeat the procedure, but found that looking Gabriel in the eyes, he couldn’t do it. “Why?” he asked hatefully, as much towards himself as towards Gabriel. 

“Because only an archangel is strong enough and fast enough to actually do damage to another archangel,” he explained. 

Sam raised the blade higher, but made no move towards Gabriel. “You always underestimate us.” 

Gabriel laughed. “Do you take me for a fool?” 

“No, I take you for a traitor,” Sam snapped. 

Gabriel gave a wry smile. “Maybe I am. All I know is that I do what I have to do.” 

“And so do I,” Sam said moving the blade a bit, but unable to send it at Gabriel. It was like one look from the archangel was enough to completely undo him. 

Gabriel shook his head. “You keep pointing that blade at me and blabbering on about how much you want to kill me. I’m beginning to doubt your commitment.” When Sam just swallowed heavily and looked like he was trying to get the impetus to move, Gabriel chuckled. “Sammy, Sammy, Sammy. You can’t kill me. Even if you could, you couldn’t bring yourself to do it. You’ll just hesitate…Again.” As he spoke he moved closer and closer to the hunter until the tip of the blade was against his chest. He saw in Sam’s eyes that he would never be able to go through with it. He would still have plenty of time to fly away if he was wrong though, but he didn’t need to as the blade clattered to the ground and Sam slumped to the chair. “Just like at Mystery Spot,” Gabriel finished with a smirk as he bent to pick up the blade and set it on the desk next to Sam. He was in no danger from it, and this way it would be a constant reminder to Sam that he couldn’t be beaten. 

“You’re right,” Sam croaked out, throat tight with emotion. “You’re right. I could never kill someone I love. No matter how much they deserve it.” 

Gabriel felt a jolt of something in his cold heart, but stifled it quickly enough as he reached out to run the back of his knuckles over Sam’s cheek. “Oh Sammy. Only a fool would fall in love with someone as deadly as me,” He whispered as he disappeared. 

At Gabriel’s exit, everything that Sam had kept bottled up for the last day and a half…hell everything that he had kept bottled up for the last decade and a half, broke out of him and he doubled over sobbing. He wrapped his arms around his middle almost like that could hold him together from the terrible anguish that was ripping him apart. Gabriel had been right about one thing. Sam was already begging for death.


	5. Chapter 5

Gabriel released the seals on the bunker, flew back to his house, and plopped down on the couch. What the hell was that? He felt almost like he was being ripped in two for a minute there. He looked back over the interaction, as well as all their past interactions. He remembered playing with them long ago and then helping them later, but surely they must have realized that helping them against his brothers was a far different thing than helping against his father. His father had all of his loyalty. Always. Didn’t he? Gabriel head was spinning in confusion. He felt like he was at war with himself and then he heard his father’s voice in his head and was able to push all that confusion to the back of his mind. It was ridiculous. Of course he was always loyal to his father. He was an archangel. There was no other way it could be. Within a few hours, Gabriel had another plan to prove to the hunters just how powerless they really were. 

It was nearly noon the next day before Sam woke up. He had apparently managed to drag himself to his bed at some point in the night, but he could feel the telltale signs of having slept part of the night on the floor. He slowly uncurled from the fetal position and managed to keep the tears away as he remembered last night, not helped by the sight of the archangel blade sitting innocently on the desk. He got up and sat in the chair running his hands over it. Why was he so powerless when it came to Gabriel? He almost rolled his eyes at himself. He knew why he was so powerless. He loved Gabriel more than his own life and he hated himself for it. Especially now. He’d let himself have hope for a while. When Gabriel was on their side. But now he wasn’t anymore. Now he was cold and cruel and killing people. Well at least one person. Eileen. But if he could do that so easily, without a care in the world, how many more had he killed? How was this the same guy who had faced death for them more than once? Was it really as simple as being loyal to his father all along and just having fun while he wasn’t in the picture?

Dean stuck his head in and interrupted that line of thought for a moment. “Heya Sammy. You feeling okay?” 

“Yeah, Dean. I’m fine,” Sam lied easily. 

Dean looked skeptically at him. “I checked on you a few times when you weren’t up this morning,” he admitted, trying to get a little something more from his brother. 

“I just didn’t sleep very well last night. I’m fine.” 

Dean didn’t believe it for a second, but he could see that his brother was feeling things again, so he wasn’t nearly as worried as he had been yesterday. “Well we left you some breakfast…and lunch in the kitchen if you’re hungry.” 

“I’ll eat it later.” 

“Okay. Well, we’re unsealed now so Cas and I were gonna go do some shopping if you want to come with and get out of here for a while,” Dean prodded.

“Nah. I might go for a run later. Clear my head and all,” Sam brushed him off. 

“Okay. Just…eat first?” Dean said worriedly. That much exertion on an empty stomach wouldn’t be good for him. 

Sam just nodded and thankfully Dean left, so Sam got back to his thoughts. Sam didn’t believe for a minute that Gabriel had always been loyal to his father. There was too much anger and bitterness there for that to have been true. But Gabriel was always nothing if not a survivor. If he thought that he could never stand against him, then maybe he would have taken his side just to survive. But surely he would have just tried to stay out of it. But maybe Chuck didn’t let him. It couldn’t be that easy to hide from God after all. That was it. Gabriel was just doing what he thought he had to do to survive. They had talked him back from that before. There was no hope for them as a couple. Not after this. Not after how easily he turned on them. But maybe they could get his help. Maybe they could get him back on their side. That decided, Sam decided to grab a bite and go out for a run. He always did his best thinking when he was running. 

Cas and Dean pulled up at the grocery store and nearly got run over in the parking lot. Dean yelled at the driver for being an idiot, but didn’t think anything of it. Not until they got into the grocery store. He said hello to a few people he’d seen around town, but no one paid any attention to them at all. They might as well be invisible…son of a bitch. He walked up to someone and started talking to them, but they showed no sign of seeing him at all and walked away when he was in mid-sentence. About that time, Cas was calling for his attention so he turned to see Cas’ hand going through the shelves and unable to grab anything. “I swear I’m gonna pull out the holy oil and deep fry the archdouche,” Dean snapped irritatedly. “Come on. We might as well go home,” he told Cas. “And so help me if we can’t touch the car either…” 

Thankfully they were able to get in the car, but apparently it was just as invisible as they were and getting out of the parking lot was not easy. By the time they got back to the bunker Sam was gone, but Dean could see that about half of one of the plates was eaten so he wasn’t too worried. He considered calling Sam to let him know about their new predicament, but Sam always ran in the woods and he really hated being disturbed on a run so Dean let it go. He’d tell him when he got back. 

Sam’s run was relatively uneventful, save for passing a few hikers and waving only for them to pretend that he wasn’t there, and he felt a lot better when he got back to the bunker. That didn’t last long though as Dean filled him in on Gabriel’s newest trick, and Sam kicked a chair. “Damnit. I should have known he wouldn’t have let us off so easily.”

“You figure out whether you can use that archangel blade yet?” Dean asked. 

Sam screwed his eyes shut at the question so his brother wouldn’t see the pain there and he turned away as he answered. “No. I can’t use it,” he said hollowly. 

“Okay. Maybe Cas…”

Cas shook his head, neither of them noticing Sam’s inner turmoil. “I would be no more able to use it than Sam could. I’m not an archangel either. I’m barely even an angel anymore.” 

Sam knew that he should clarify, but he didn’t dare. He wasn’t going to tell them that he couldn’t use it because he was just too weak. Too emotional. Too in love with the archangel that was destroying the world. “I’m gonna go do some research,” he said making his escape from the room. Not that he would get anything productive done for the rest of the day. There was just too much on his mind, despite his best efforts. 

Making it back to his room later that night, intending to go back to sleep, he once again found it occupied. “Give up yet?” the archangel quipped. 

“No,” Sam said tensely. “And you know that we won’t. Ever.” 

“Suit yourself. You’re just making things harder on yourselves.” 

“We don’t cut and run when things get tough,” he said pointedly. 

“That’s just too bad,” Gabriel said with a cruel smirk as he turned to face Sam. 

“And I don’t think you’re as dark as you want people to think,” Sam added, trying to talk him around. 

Gabriel let out a cold cruel laugh. “You don’t huh? It’s really tiring pretending not to be evil, you know, but that game has passed.”

“I don’t buy that for a second,” Sam told him, firm in his conviction. Coward maybe. Turncoat, definitely, but evil? No. Gabriel wasn’t evil. 

Gabriel just smirked at him. “You might want to get out of the city tonight.” 

“Why?” Sam asked worriedly. 

“Because I’m planning to burn it to the ground,” Gabriel said matter-of-factly as if they were discussing some mundane task, not the murder of thousands of innocent people. 

“Gabriel…please…” Sam tried begging, not even entertaining the thought that they had any way of stopping him should he go through with his threat. He didn’t get the chance to do more than that though before Gabriel was gone. “Damnit!” he yelled, barreling out of his room to get Dean and Cas. They had to try to help as much as they could.


	6. Chapter 6

Gabriel strolled through town, waves of fire trailing in his wake as the screams of people being burned alive echoed in his ears, and he grinned. He hadn’t felt this powerful since Sodom and Gomorrah. If this was what it took for those yahoos to learn their lesson, then this was on them. And if it got Sam to quit trying to reach him all the better. He didn’t know how the stupid hunter managed to get him to question all the time, but it was going to stop. One way or another it would stop. He was a good son. It was his duty to carry out his father’s will and he would die before he would turn away from that. Sam was just going to have to get that through his head. 

The three of them piled into the Impala and barreled out of the bunker. The didn’t know if Gabriel was serious or not, but they couldn’t take the risk. It turned out that he was. They smelled the smoke long before they reached town. They parked the car just outside town and ran in to try and save as many as they could, but they found that they were still invisible. No one could see them and they couldn’t touch anyone either. They learned that hard way that the fire could still touch them though. Thankfully Cas still had enough juice to heal them, but they were still stuck there, powerless to help anyone. They just had to watch them all burn alive. 

The explosions as the fire reached the gun shop and the liquor store drew their attention and they turned to see Gabriel, standing in the center of the inferno that wasn’t touching him, arms raised, and hair blowing around his head with the force of the flames. Sam sucked in a sharp breath at the sight as he tried unsuccessfully to turn away. He could see the maniacal gleam in Gabriel’s eyes from here though, as they were surrounded by the screams of death. He grabbed Dean’s arm. “Let’s get out of here,” he said loudly to be heard over the roaring flames. 

“We can’t just leave these people like this,” Dean protested. 

“Sam is right. There is nothing we can do here. And I don’t know if I will be able to heal you if you are burned again,” Cas chimed in. 

Dean still looked like he didn’t want to go, so Sam tried again. “Look, Dean. If we could help in any way, I would be right there with you, damn the consequences, but we can’t.” Dean finally let himself be led away. They would both be having nightmares tonight of this scene, and Cas was thankful he wasn’t far enough gone yet to sleep. 

They would have been wrong. They didn’t have nightmares simply because they didn’t sleep. Every time the closed their eyes they saw the people burning alive and heard the screams. For Sam, though, it was even worse. Gabriel’s cold malicious eyes haunted him just as badly as the rest. He finally gave up after about two hours of tossing and turning and headed to the kitchen for some coffee. He wasn’t the only one with that idea. He found both Dean and Cas sitting at the table too, though Dean had something other than coffee. “You couldn’t sleep either huh?” Dean asked bleary eyed. 

Sam shook his head and sat down, changing his mind about the coffee and grabbed the bottle from Dean and tossed it back. When Dean raised an eyebrow at Sam he shrugged. “It’s that kind of night,” he said in explanation and Dean nodded. Sam didn’t drink like that often, but they all needed to get smashed tonight. It was certainly the only way anyone was getting any sleep around here, though it was still well after the sun came up that they passed out right there at the table. Cas carried them to their beds and went to search the library for anything to make him feel less useless. 

Gabriel felt the call from his father just after he returned home after making sure that Lebanon Kansas was nothing more than ash. He appeared kneeling before his father. “Excellent work, Gabriel. They should think twice before interfering again.”

“Thank you, Father,” Gabriel said submissively. 

“Now, despite your lack of progress on the subject, I was able to find a way to heal this wound,” he said, delighting in Gabriel’s wince at the reminder of his failure. “The removal of the link on the other end should allow it to heal.” 

“What do you need me to do, Father?” 

“I need you to kill Sam Winchester,” Chuck told him. 

“K-kill Sam?” Gabriel stammered, unsure why the idea hit him so hard.

“Are you questioning me, Gabriel?” Chuck asked warningly. 

“No, Father. Of course not,” the archangel said quickly. “I just thought that you wanted the brothers to kill each other.” 

“I do. And once I am healed, I can bring Sam back and they can do just that, but this wound is getting tiresome.”

“I understand, Father,” Gabriel said and when Chuck waved a hand in dismissal, Gabriel left quickly. 

When the archangel arrived in Sam’s room, he saw the hunter passed out in bed and reached out a hand. No, he wanted Sam to see his fate coming. He wouldn’t do it while he was sleeping. He was even able to convince himself that was the reason for the delay, and completely ignored the tiny voice inside that questioned why he didn’t just wake the hunter up himself as he settled in to wait. 

It was about three hours later when Sam started to stir and Gabriel leaned against the wall and cleared his throat, chuckling as Sam’s eyes snapped open fearfully and quickly settled on him. “Good morning Sammykins. Sleep well?” 

“No. I didn’t,” Sam said hatefully. “Why are you here now? Just to rub it in?”

“Not at all. My father informed me how to heal that wound on his shoulder,” Gabriel said with a smirk. 

“Oh?” Sam asked, not daring to hope anymore that Gabriel was here to help him by getting rid of his too. 

“Yup,” Gabriel said pushing off from the wall. “Seems that the connection to you is keeping there. If you die, he gets better.”

“So you’re here to kill me,” Sam said knowingly. 

“Bingo!” Gabriel said with a grin, steadfastly ignoring everything inside him that was trying to make him rebel. 

The archangel wasn’t expecting Sam to just shrug and get up and walk over to him. “Go ahead then. Kill me. I can’t stop you.” 

Gabriel couldn’t help the glance over to the archangel blade still sitting on the desk, and wondered why Sam wouldn’t even fight to save his life, but put it out of his mind and reached out his hand to Sam’s forehead to smite him. He didn’t make it there though before the part of him that had been fighting got louder and stronger and he doubled over, holding his head as that voice and his father’s warred in his mind. “No! Stop it! Shut up!” 

Sam instinctively reached out to Gabriel to steady him as he grew more and more confused. Gabriel didn’t even seem to notice as his hands fisted in his hair. “No! I won’t! I can’t!” He jerked away from Sam and hit his knees. “Get out of my head!” he screamed louder as he rocked back and forth, and then Sam got it. Gabriel had never betrayed them. Not really. Chuck had brainwashed him, just like Naomi did Cas so long ago, and given that he was God, the fact that Gabriel was fighting it at all was a testament to his strength, and Sam was going to give him all the help he could. 

Sam went to his knees in front of Gabriel and put his hand’s over the archangel’s on the sides of Gabriel’s head. “Fight it, Gabriel. Come on. You can do it. You’re not his puppet. You’re not anyone’s puppet. No one controls you but you. Come back to us Gabe.” 

Gabriel looked up at Sam and for a moment, just a moment, Sam could see the real Gabriel there in his eyes. HIS Gabriel, and he couldn’t help but kiss him. It was quick and hard and desperate and when Sam pulled back he could almost see his Gabriel getting stronger. “Come on, Gabe. You can fight this. You’re strong enough to fight anyone. Anything. You can do it. Come back to me,” Sam said firmly, leaning forward for another kiss, and this time Gabriel met him halfway, kissing Sam just as desperately and clutching him like he was a lifeline. 

When the kiss broke, Gabriel sat there, gasping for breath for a moment before he breathed out, “I love you, Sam. Never doubt that.” He knew what he had to do. There was only one way Sam would ever be safe from him. He would do anything to protect Sam, and oh how dangerous it was to finally have something worth losing. 

By the time Sam registered Gabriel’s words, the archangel pulled away from him and grabbed the archangel blade from the desk, and held it to his chest.


	7. Chapter 7

Sam felt the panic well in him as he realized what Gabriel intended to do. “No, Gabriel. You can’t. Please.” 

“I have to Sam. I am as powerless against him as you are against me. I can’t run. I can’t hide. He can find me anywhere and the next time he rewires my mind, he won’t leave any holes for me to fight from. He will make me kill you and I will die before I let that happen.” 

Sam lunged towards him, only to find Gabriel now on the other side of the room. “There is no other way, my sweet Samshine. I’m sorry. I have to do this. And you’re not strong enough or fast enough to stop me.” He raised the blade to make the killing blow when a hand suddenly wrapped around his wrist. 

“But I am,” a voice said as the person the hand belonged to appeared. 

“Amara…” Sam breathed out in fear. 

Gabriel turned to look at her, pain written in his face. “Please. I can’t stand against him. I can’t fight him,” he begged his long lost aunt. 

“But I can, Gabriel,” She told him. 

“What…” Sam asked, fear fading into confusion.

Amara looked between them before pulling the blade from Gabriel’s hand and explaining. “When I was first released, my only thought was vengeance, but then, as I saw more of this world; of the wonders it held, I wanted more. I wanted my brother back. I wanted us to enjoy this world together. But I forgot the most important facet of our existence.” 

“You turned him evil, didn’t you,” Sam accused. 

“I did. But not the way you think. We are a balance, my brother and I. The less evil I became, the more he did. I’ve been watching ever since he came to me for help with his wound. He knew that only I could heal him. I wouldn’t, but I didn’t want to fight him either. Not after I had just gotten him back. He has gone too far though.” She looked at Gabriel and saw the look of cautious hope in his eyes and that reassured her that she was doing the right thing. She knew she wasn’t supposed to have favorites, but Gabriel had always been hers and she couldn’t let him sacrifice himself. 

“So what are you going to do?” Gabriel asked. 

“It is my turn to rise and his turn to be locked away. I hate it, but it has to be done. Perhaps, someday, we can find a balance and we can be free and together, but until then…this is how it must be,” she said hauntedly. “I will need your help though, Gabriel.” 

“If it will keep Sam safe, then anything,” Gabriel promised. 

“Gabriel don’t,” Sam protested. “You could be hurt or killed. You already said you can’t fight him. That you’re powerless against him.” 

“Don’t worry, Samuel. I will protect him. But this is a two person job,” Amara told him. 

Gabriel walked over to Sam and pulled him into a slow sweet kiss. “Don’t worry about me Sammy. You know I’m a survivor. I’ll come back. I promise.” 

“You better,” Sam whispered, leaning his forehead against Gabriel’s. They still had a lot to talk about, but for now, this would have to be enough. 

Gabriel stepped away from Sam with a great deal of effort and took Amara’s hand as they disappeared. 

Sam forced all of his emotional turmoil away for the moment and went to wake up Dean and find Cas. They needed to know about all of this, and he had no idea how that particular conversation would go. 

“So you’re saying that God is going to be locked away and the darkness will be in charge now? And you’re acting like this is a good thing?” Dean asked incredulously. 

“She’s good now. That’s why God became evil,” Sam tried again to explain.

“Why does anyone have to be in charge? Why can’t they just leave us the hell alone,” Dean asked. 

“Someone has to keep heaven running. Protect the souls. Lead the angels. Our father had his chance. Perhaps she will do better,” Cas suggested disinterestedly. 

“Fine. Whatever. But back to Gabriel. Are we really just gonna forgive and forget everything?” Dean countered. 

“He was brainwashed, Dean. No, he was more than brainwashed. He was ‘rewritten’. By God himself. He wasn’t responsible for any of that,” Sam defended the archangel.

“Tell that to Eileen. Hell, tell that to the entire damn town,” Dean snapped. 

“I know what happened Dean,” Sam snapped back. “I know what Chuck made him do. But it wasn’t him. Not really. Once he broke the brainwashing, he tried to kill himself to keep it from happening again!” 

Dean got up and stormed off. They could hear his bedroom door slam all the way from the living room and Sam sighed. “He will come around Sam. He has been fighting and hating for so long that it will take time for him to realize that he doesn’t have to anymore. And his current state does not help,” Cas assured Sam. 

Sam nodded. He knew that Dean with a hangover was never very reasonable. Especially when he was short on sleep at the same time. He had been so on edge over everything that it would take a bit for that to fade. He could tell by looking at Cas that the seraph was in the same position. His bitterness would likely fade faster than Dean’s though. Hopefully he could keep things together until it did, because he wasn’t about to give Gabriel up now. Not after everything they had been through. 

When Cas went to apparently talk to Dean, Sam hit the library. He was exhausted, but he knew better than to think that he would be able to get any sleep right now. Not until Gabriel was back and he knew that he would be okay. 

It was five hours before Gabriel popped up in the library, looking for Sam and the smile on his face when he saw him gave Sam all the strength he needed to sweep him up in a kiss. In the time they had been gone, he had started to second guess everything, but one look at Gabriel and all the doubts just flew from his mind, and when Gabriel kissed him back with just as much devotion, he knew that everything would be alright now.” Right up until those dreaded words fell from the archangel’s beautiful lips. 

“So, we need to talk.” Sam winced and sat back down, motioning Gabriel to sit down too. “We should get Deano and Cassie. They need to hear all this too,” Gabriel said declining to sit just yet. 

When Gabriel raised a hand to snap, presumably to bring them here, Sam grabbed his wrist. “Don’t. I’ll go get them.” Gabriel lowered his hand and nodded, not looking back up from the floor. He realized why Sam had stopped him. They probably hated him now and there was no need to start things off with them pissed. He felt a little better when Sam lifted his chin and gave him a quick soft kiss. “It’ll be okay, Gabe. We’ll get it all worked out. I promise.”

Sam returned with Dean and Cas in tow and Dean glared at the archangel as he sat and crossed his arms while Cas just looked emotionless. Once they were all sitting, Gabriel started. “This isn’t easy for me. It isn’t something I do often, but I need to apologize to you all.” 

“You don’t owe us any apologies, Gabe. It wasn’t your fault.” 

“Speak for yourself,” Dean retorted. 

“It doesn’t matter, Sam. It still needs to be said,” he told the hunter and turned back to the group as a whole. “I can’t undo what I did, and I wish I could, but I thought you would like to know that Eileen Lahey’s soul is safe in heaven now, as are the souls from Lebanon. The ones that weren’t supposed to be in hell that is.”

“You’re an archangel. A fully powered one again apparently. You can’t bring them back?” Dean scoffed. 

“Eileen, no. I can’t. Her time is up. It was always supposed to end when it did, though she was never supposed to end up in hell. That was part of my father’s little games. The prophet is also safe in heaven again now as well. The town…I don’t have the power to both bring all of them back, wipe all the memories of the entire world who know of the disaster, and rebuild the entire town. I wish I did, but even Auntie can’t rewind time. Like Death, time is a matter all to itself.”

Cas nodded. He understood. Dean sighed. He knew it was time to give it up. Especially since it was more for Sam than for Gabriel. He knew Sam had been in love with the archangel forever, and now that it seemed like they were all on the same page, he wasn’t going to give it up easily, so the least Dean could do is support him. “So you two are together now?” Dean asked, correctly interpreting the looks between them. 

Sam looked at Gabriel who nodded and Sam grinned and pulled the archangel into his lap and Gabriel snuggled happily against him. “Yep. We’re together now. For better or worse.” 

“It’ll probably be worse,” Dean muttered without any heat. 

“I knew that the day I fell in love with him,” Sam joked with a chuckle. 

Gabriel laughed heartily and wrapped his arms around Sam’s neck. “I knew I fell for the smart brother.” Even Dean couldn’t help the laugh that pulled from him as Cas looked on with a smile.


End file.
